I am sitting here typing this from around 34,000ft, somewhere over the top of Tropical Storm/Depression Ida. No, I have not taken a job with Northwest Airlines, I am riding in the back of a Delta Airlines MD-88. The aircraft is equipped with GoGo Inflight Internet. Thankfully, it is free to try. Let me tell you though, it is difficult to juggle a laptop, peanuts, and a glass of water on the seatback table. Also, I had better type fast, because the length of my post may be limited to the space remaining on my battery.
When I was on the shuttle bus from the parking lot to the terminal, I glanced over the front page of the USA Today. It had a story on the front page talking about this being the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. I remember that day very clearly in 1989. I also remember the great Ronald Regan telling Russian President Gorbachev to "Tear Down This Wall!" That will forever be embedded in my head, as most of my formative years took place during the cold war.
The story in the USA Today also reminded me of a training event I went through back in 2001, right before the Twin Towers were brought down by terrorists intent on toppling the United States. It was August and I was in the middle of training. I was upgrading from Captain on the Jetstream 41 to Captain on the Canadair Regional Jet. At that time, the economy was still going strong and people were flying in record numbers. I was fortunate to benefit from this through rapid upgrades from First Officer to Captain. Life was looking very good! Due to the this rapid growth, the airlines, mine included, did not have the simulator resources to train all the pilots it needed to. Therefore, we did the ground school training in-house and then bought simulator slots wherever we could find them. At my airline, Atlantic Coast Airlines, we bought CRJ sim slots in Delaware, Montreal, and Berlin, Germany. I really wasn't interested in doing my sim training in our Washington DC base, because I would then have to stay at home where there would be far too many distractions. Instead of studying and preparing for my sim sessions, I might be tempted to watch the latest episodes of my favorite tv shows on cable. When it came time for me to decide where I wanted to go, I chose Berlin.
I had been to Germany a few times on Vacation and loved the area and the people. And if the food wasn't good enough, the beer was amazing!!! I had heard a rumor that there are over 5,000 varieties of beer in Germany, each of them tested by the government for purity. WHERE DO I GET THAT JOB? I was thinking I might be in the wrong line of work! At least my travel benefits allowed me to go over there a few times and enjoy some of my favorites.
I was scheduled to deadhead on Lufthansa directly to Berlin. It was a Capital-to-Capital shuttle that was being heavily promoted. I introduced myself to the lead flight attendant and asked if I could do the same to the Captain. She took my ID up to the Captain, who then invited me up to the cockpit. After chatting for a few minutes, he invited me to ride the cockpit jumpseat of his Airbus A340 for the takeoff and climbout. Remember my friends, at the beginning of this post, I told you this was a month prior to 9/11. That would never happen today. I was very thankful for his hospitality. I stayed there until we were over New York City, when he invited me to get my co-pilot in coach class, and bring him up to Business Class where we were being upgraded. Did I already say that I loved the Germans? Another thing about the Germans, is that they are very efficient. I'm sure you've heard that you can set your watch by the train schedule, and they're not lying. You wouldn't believe how efficient they were when we arrived in Berlin. When I walked out the front door of the airplane, I literally walked 20 feet to the customs and immigration official. He stamped my passport and I walked through a sliding door. Right in front of we was the baggage carousel. My bag came within 5 minutes and I walked about 30 feet to another sliding door. When it opened, I was deposited at the curb where our transportation to the hotel was waiting. If only we could do it like that here in the USA.
A short time later, we arrived at the hotel I would be spending the next 17 days. It was in East Berlin and 2 blocks from Check Point Charlie. This is the famous border crossing between the East and West parts of Berlin. On either side would be the Berlin Wall. There isn't much left of the wall. The only remaining section of the wall is an 1,800 foot section that is a now a memorial. It contains graffiti all along it's length. Instead of it degrading the wall, they have artists come and decorate the wall with artistic graffiti. I have heard that it changes every few years. It is difficult to walk into a tourist shop, and not find pieces of the wall that you can buy and take home with you as souvenirs.
Well, we have started our descent into my destination of Pittsburgh. Thankfully, my battery has lasted the flight, and I just need to finish up before the Flight Attendants force me to turn off my computer.
As I read the article about the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, I couldn't help but remember the time I spent in Berlin. I have looked through the history books at what life was like prior to the fall of the wall. I came home to the worst terrorist attack in the US history. It is proof that evil, pain and suffering is never far away, but peace will always prevail.
"Flight Attendants, Please Prepare for Arrival!"
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